Upsurge

Upsurge

A Hougang wet market stall made it into the news recently for its rental price of S$3,019 per month.

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The bid for the poultry stall, which is located at Block 105 Hougang Avenue 1, was successfully won by one Chua Poh Chee, Benjamin, according to the June tender exercise results put up by the National Environment Agency (NEA).

Other bidding prices for the same stall ranged between S$200 and S$1,132.

Highest price in 2.5 years

The Chinese daily added that this bidding price is the highest for a market stall in two and a half years.

Previously, a Geylang Serai market stall received a bid of S$3,800 back in December 2016.

Speaking to Shin Min, Chua revealed that he has been in the business for 30 years so he is not unfamiliar with the market price of wet market stalls.

However, Chua said that the Hougang stall has a good location, which was why he was willing to put up a high bid.

Hard to earn profit

Chua’s stall has been open since Aug. 10, 2019 and based on the sales volume over the past few days, he estimated that he will not be turning a profit anytime soon.

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“Minus the rent and employee salary, I can only earn S$30 to S$50 a month. It’s a waste of effort. But I plan to build up my customer base during this three-year contract period. After that, if rental price goes down, I can start earning a profit,” he told Shin Min.

The market has at least six other stalls selling poultry, Shin Min noted.

Chua’s bidding price of S$3,019 for a market stall is an anomaly.

His price is the only one to breach S$1,600 in the June tender exercise.

Other market stall owners that Shin Min spoke to said the human traffic in this market is decreasing.

One said this is because more and more people prefer to visit supermarkets.